Newtonville Books Community Blog

Last Monday’s Shelf-Awareness featured a review of The Unnamed, the new novel by Joshua Ferris, who will be reading at “Books and Brews” on January 27th!

“The word “gifted” is so often attributed to writers that it has almost lost its luster, becoming in some cases merely a synonym for “good.” Yet, at the risk of adding to the pile, there is no better word to describe Joshua Ferris (author of Then We Came to the End) whose second novel, The Unnamed, is an extraordinary piece of work…”

Click here to read the rest of the review.

If you are starting to think about your resolutions for the New Year, check out what literary habits your favorite authors plan to resolve!  Nick Hornby, Alexander McCall Smith, Lev Grossman, Jennifer Weiner, Mitch Albom, Margaret Atwood, and Doug Stanton all share their literary resolutions for 2010 with The New York Times.

If you’re a fan of graphic novels, there is an interesting article in Publishers Weekly by Ada Price on graphic adaptations of literature classics-

“Graphic novel adaptations of classic and contemporary prose works have surged in the past few years as more publishers explore ways to create book-length comics that can be used to encourage literacy and can also function as legitimate works of art in their own right. The earliest comic adaptations of classic prose works were Classics Illustrated, started in 1941 by Albert Kanter. Highly abridged, these comics were meant to “slip some literature in as a gateway drug to real books,” says Jim Salicrup, the editor of the current line of Classics Illustrated from Papercutz, a publisher of children’s and YA graphic novels….”

To read the full article, click here!

Interesting commentary by The Chicago Tribune culture critic Julia Keller:

Despite what the song says, this is not the most wonderful time of the year. It is, in fact, a most unfortunate time of the year.

Please understand: I have nothing against holiday traditions, be they retail, religious or secular. I don’t grit my teeth at the constant repetition of Christmas carols or harbor any dark, seething hatred of commercialism.

What, then, makes me dread the final few weeks of the year, every year? I’ll tell you what. The infamous, diabolical, excruciating yet unavoidable tradition of selecting the year’s best offerings in various categories of the arts: books, movies, plays, TV shows, music, video games.

The basic rationale makes perfect sense, of course: No one can read or see or listen to or think about everything, thus we critics rush into the room and wave our arms over our heads and shout, “Stand back, everyone, we’ve got this covered! Listen up!” As a critic, I can attest to the voluptuous pleasure of watching as several faces in that metaphorical room turn my way, however briefly, waiting for my pronouncement — perhaps only to ridicule it, granted, but I’ll take the attention any way I can get it.

Click here to read the rest.

Dare I suggest, eating better? (This would be a good one for me!)  If you’re looking for a fresh start in 2010, try Michael Pollan’s new inspirational guide to food, Food Rules,  which comes out next week.

Yes, today is the day when grievances shall be aired and strength tested. So gather round your aluminum pole and celebrate Festivus with these books: Allen Salkin’s Festivus (with a foreword by Jerry Stiller) is about as close as it gets to an official holiday guide, topped possibly only by Daniel O’Keefe’s The Real Festivus. O’Keefe’s father was the actual inventor of Festivus, and O’Keefe wrote the Seinfeld episode (“The Strike”) which introduced the world to the holiday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7-jcsB_WQ&feature=player_embedded